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A project installing fiber optic cables to connect stop lights along local highways temporarily moved into traffic Wednesday, causing a lane closure and delays on Highway 9 between Frisco and Summit High School.

Colorado Department of Transportation officials confirmed the traffic interference would be an isolated incident for a project that has primarily been confined to shoulders along Hwys. 9 and 6.

"It was the exception, rather than the rule," CDOT spokesperson Bob Wilson said. "It became a safety issue, that was the only reason there was a delay, but normally that's not going to occur."

Crews closed down one lane of Hwy. 9 at Iron Springs for a few hours Wednesday morning while equipment was moved.

The $1.6 million project includes the installation of fiber optic cables along Hwy. 6 from Keystone, through Frisco and into Breckenridge on Hwy. 9. Once the work is completed, the new cables will allow CDOT to sync all the stoplights between Frisco and Breckenridge, and potentially later install electronic messaging signs and traffic cameras in the area as well.

The project is slated to wrap up by Thanksgiving for the winter. Crews will resume work again in the spring.

The project is part of an ongoing CDOT effort to install and improve a fiber network along Interstate 70 and around the state. In some instances the transportation department is installing its own cables, in others tapping into existing networks.